Uh, have you ever driven a front wheel drive car at the limit in the snow? It's just as dangerous, if not more, than rear wheel drive. Of course all wheel drive is the bomb, but even in the snow, I'd rather drive a well ballanced rear wheel drive car.

Rear wheel in the snow? You're nuts! Try driving both for a winter in Northern Michigan. I guarantee that you will change your mind. A lot of people go to the extent of thinking they are safe in 4x4s in the winter. The going isn't bad, it's the stopping that's the problem. In front wheel, you have a lot more control on slippery roads and can stuff it in a snow bank if necessary. In rear wheel, you will fish tail like crazy.

BTW, why would you be driving "at the limit" if it is snowing? No car should be doing that.

no known name: Maybe in crazy land where the laws of physics don't apply. But here on earth, in day to day traveling, rear wheel is much tougher to control in the snow than front wheel.

Ah, but you have to understand...it doesn't snow *everywhere*. To cater to maybe 2/5ths of the car-driving population by giving them a front drive sports car with a 'vette engine is *eek*. There are benefits and disadvantages of all three: front-, rear-, and all-wheel drive cars. I drive all three types on a fairly regular basis, and each type of drivetrain responds differently. I'm no physics expert, but when I have a V-8 pushing a 2-ton car, it sure feels a lot more powerful than if it's pulling it. Also, you have to understand that by moving a car by its front axle using a V-8 you're going to introduce a significant amount of torque steer (very undesirable for a car as cool as the XLR.

Well, that piticualr car you want doesn't exactly say "drive me in the snow". I do like front wheel drive cars though. Sems to handle better all around. Rear wheel drive works when your only going forward... maybe that why they are on musle cars. You can't make a donut with a front wheel drive car or a spin out.

Get the Volvo XC-90 (SUV). I LOVE that cross vehical... or maybe the Chrystler Crossfire? That is sort of like the XLR Very cool look too.

Bah, I thought you outgrew two seaters a while back...

Actually, rear wheel is not less controllable in the snow and wet. That is a common misconception. Rear wheel drive simply requires a different skill set. I have driven both extensively in all types of weather, up to and including blizzard level snow. If you are predominantly a front wheel car driver, then the rear wheel drive will be less controllable in foul weather. However, it is equally true going the other way. When someone who has only driven rear wheel drive cars trys to drive a front wheel drive car it is just as much a problem. And, no, this is not due to being "used" to a particular car/type of car it is a completely different skill set.

That said, front wheel drive cars have a tendancy to oversteer and rear wheel drive cars have a tendancy to understeer. This is just the nature of the respective drive types and the physics of the situation, and it is true in all weather types. IMHO understeer is safer thus rear wheel drive cars are safer regardless of weather, assuming equivalent skill level. The main reason the vast majority of cars are front wheel drive is because front wheel has been marketed with more force by the manufacturers due to being cheaper to mass produce than rear wheel drive.

Currently the better vehicles have very little oversteer/understeer, due both to suspension tuning and advancments in technology. This is true of both drive types. That said I would be wildly disappointed with any "high performance" automobile that was front wheel drive. This is true of most car enthusiasts. That is probably why you are seeing rear wheel drive on the cars you like lately, they are cars that are marketed primarily to the enthusiast market where rear wheel drive is the preference.

Truth be told I am wildly disappointed in the LACK of rear wheel drive cars out there. There are actually very few left. The recent mild resurgance of performance automobiles has give us a few more options but still not many and the many of the ones that are there are wildly expensive.

Here Here!
Last winter I drove a rear wheel drive Miata all season. There were 2 times when the weight of the car made it difficult to get traction up a hill, but I never had any control problems...

..Maybe its just me, but I'll never buy a front wheel drive car..

The lack of being able to really "drive" around a corner that you get with all front wheel drive cars is the deciding factor.. ..and I too am disappointed at the lack of rear wheel drive cars.. ..I have my eyes on one.. ..may I suggest the top of the line RX-8.. ..it has GPS, mapping, DVD-player, rotary engine, rear wheel drive, etc..

JJ,

Your definition of understeer / oversteer is backwards but I agree with your conclusions. Understeer is the tendency to continue traveling in a straight line due to limited grip on the front tires. Oversteer is when the rear end of the car slides out. Since cars tend to lose traction on the drive wheels, especially in bad weather, fwd cars tend to understeer and rwd cars tend to oversteer.

Draginol,

Why didn’t Cadillac make the XLR awd? Well, it’s built off the next generation Corvette platform, so to add awd would require a ton of engineering, if it’s even possible. Not really worth it for a couple thousand cars a year. Also the XLR doesn’t have a Corvette engine, it has a modified version of the Cadillac Northstar V8.

My personal preference is for rwd cars. Over the past two winters that I’ve had my Mustang, only once have I not been able to get where I wanted to go and that was with the original performance tires. If you have dedicated snow tires on a rwd car you’re better off then any awd or 4wd vehicle with standard tires.

rear wheel drive is better because of the acceleration. front wheel drive is better handling. all wheel drive is the best in all.

Gah! Alex T. You got me!!!

Reading back over that I cringe, what I said was what I meant but you are absolutely correct I reversed under/over steer. *wince*

That is what I get for working late, I have got to stop posting stuff when I am tired. I must have some sort of goofy dyslexia that comes out when I haven't had enough sleep.

That said, I want to state again for the record that the better new cars are getting to a point where they have very little percieveable understeer or oversteer regardless of drive type. I assume that this is due to advances in suspension and computerized control of suspension and traction. Several of the new cars I have tested recently had little to no under/over/torque steer problems. Very cool. I will, however, still go for rear wheel drive EVERY time.

Oh, and webmastah87:

You should probably define what you mean by "Better Handling". I think that is where you and I differ. I feel that rear wheel drive has superior handling compared to front wheel drive. This is because I define "Better Handling" as the ability to get around a corner as fast as possible while maintaining control. I should note that I do not consider a four wheel drift to necesarrily be a case of loosing control. Often a four wheel drift is the fastest way to get around a corner, if you know what you are doing. Watch some oval track racing sometime to understand what I am talking about. When they are rounding those turns, during large protions of the turn they are in a four wheel drift.

I do understand that most people have not had the experience/training needed to handle that sort of driving. This is not "more advanced" per se, just a different skill set as I said before. Nowadays with the vast majority of cars on the road being front wheel drive or all wheel drive most drivers do not know how to handle a wheel drift situation. To them this is just another case of no control and to be avoided. This is too bad, because I am sure some accidents would be avoided if the drivers had learned to handle a drift or skid situation without freaking out.

Besides, four wheel drifts are fun!

I prefer RWD, but, for the last 8 years or so, I've only had fwd or 4wd. Sadly, the last rwd I had was a crappy Chevy Impala. Talk about a tank. Poor handling, lackluster v8, little comfort. Fortunately, I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and sold the Chevy to a New York Cabbie. Since then, I've had a Ford Taurus, Toyota Sienna and two Infiniti I-30's. I note your comment about not buying American. I used to be the same way. That is until the Chrysler LeBaron (the reason I got the Chevy) would'nt stay out of the shop; the overall dreariness of the Chevy; the fact that my '94 Taurus started to fall apart in '96 (with less than 60k miles) and the poor quality of the Jeep. My favorite modern car to date was the '96 Infniti I 30. Well built, good power, good handling and nice looking. My 2001 I-30, while not as fulfilling as the '96, is a great car too. It has more power and is tons more comfortable. I have not any problems with it and the overall build quality is far and above any of the 'big three'. As far as the front wheel drive issue is concerned, I am comfortable with it, but would love to get one of those hot G-35's. RWD is back. Any one concerned that is gone should look to Nissan. They just introduced several rwd's and awd's. Great vehicles, don't count them out so quickly. Hell, some of them (Maxima) are built here in the states and probably contain more American parts than your average Ford. All that said, my all time favorite car (not new, purchased used) was the 1973 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ. Talk about a great handling car. I drove it in several snows and never once had any handling (unlike the Ford and current I-30-got it sideways once) problems. And it had 300 horses under the hood. Ya just gotta know how drive 'em. Man, I wish I still had that car.

actually, you have it backwards. Front weel drive cars have a tendancy to understeer as they are pulling all their weight through turns and corners whereas real weel drive cars tend to oversteer because they are pushing the weight. I'm sure i'm not the only one who replied to this telling you the same thing but oh well. here's one more

That is very true. Driving a FWD car at the limit requires another skill set. I used to hold FWD sport cars in contempt for their inability to turn when off power and also inability to get the power down out of a corner. They seemed rubbish to me in the arena of true sports cars. However, the Japanese are doing a great job in changing this. Like the Acura RSX(DC5), it's already a great FWD sports car. The only problem is how you handle it. I usually power a FWD into a corner, if you know what I mean, to reduce the power off understeer(Most ppl get caught in a head-on collision because they plough the car into on-coming traffic when they lift the throttle so as to get more steering response, which is tragicly only true for RWD cars.). Slight pressure on the brakes at the same time helps, too. In summary, you have no front end traction taken for granted in a FWD scenario. You must fight for it. However, getting out of a corner quickly is sth you can never achieve by a FWD car according to the laws of physics. If you can do that, teach me. Although FWD machines are not perfect, I think it is definitely a challenge to drive them quickly. I love to do that. It is like an addiction.